Debut Sci-Fi Novel Ninth City Burning Hits the Shelves

Worthwhile Sci-Fi or YA Cash In?

If you’ll recall my recent article about how to find a new sci-fi novel that’s high in adventure and low in bull***t, you’ll find that nothing on my list appears in Ninth City Burning. So with that in mind, it’s time to talk about Jax and the artifex Kizabel and their interaction with the people known as Fontani, who produce thelemity, or revenni, to fight back against aliens that decimated the human race, though why is never clear, according to some reviews.

A Brief Rundown of Sci-Fi Novel Ninth City Burning

After 500 years of battle, seven tweens and teens will finally do what generations of trained soldiers and military strategists apparently couldn’t do: save the world. Each of the seven protagonists helps to narrate the novel, which takes place on Earth, in one of an infinite number of “Realms” or alternate realities. Aliens arrived on Valentine’s Day half a millennia before our story begins, through some sort of portal called a Lunar Veil. Since then, they have been systematically exterminating the human race.

Quite adorably, the vicious aliens that mercilessly murder mankind and eradicate whole cities almost instantly are dubbed “Valentines” or “Romeo” (because they arrived on Valentines Day, get it?)

Reviews for Ninth City Burning

The first book in a new series, Black seemingly wrote the novel with the intention of it becoming a summer blockbuster franchise, ala The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. As Kirkus eloquently puts it, “this tediously militaristic potboiler is formulaic: the underdogs, through honor, strength, and thelemity, become heroes with a little help from their friends.” But despite the herd of educated literature critics naysaying, it’s likely to be a success. It features youngin’s and young adults beating the odds because of the power of friendship! …Or something like that.

Also, it bears mentioning that not every sayer is “nay”-ing. Publisher’s Weekly, for example, found a lot to like, saying that “Black is a fresh new voice who pays respect to the classics of SF in this enjoyable adventure debut,” adding that “he creates memorable characters,” and “the details eventually come together in a fascinating world.”

We may have to get to the bottom of this by picking up a copy for ourselves, and diving into Black’s sci-fi novel Ninth City Burning. If anyone has a chance to read it, let us know what you think in the comments.

Carly Courtney graduated summa cum laude from Sierra Nevada College with her BFA in Creative Writing. Focused mainly on creative nonfiction and journalistic pursuits, she has a lifelong passion for nerdy and alternative culture. Her blood is composed mainly of stale coffee and she loves reading and discovering new sci-fi movies and novels.